22,630 Days
by EhMightAsWell
Summary: Hello everyone! This fanfic contains stories focusing on the relationship between Greg and Rose following the episode "We Need to Talk". I hope you all enjoy it.
1. We Need to Talk (Part 1)

**Chapter I :We need to talk(P1)**

 **Hello everyone and welcome to my second fan fic. For this first story I decided to write about the events which occurred in 'We Need to Talk' from the perspective of Rose and the other gems. After this first story chances are the focus will be on Greg and Rose with the others scattered about here and there in the drabbles. I would like to reiterate that the only reason I am using the events of we need to talk is for storytelling purposes, no other segment of the story will use events that are shown in the show as a backdrop, and if people react poorly to this I will be more than willing to take this particular segment down, and come up with something else to get this shindig going.**

Pearl sat in the library, quietly flipping through an encyclopedia of human anatomy. She sets the encyclopedia she had been reading to the side along with the other books she had been studying. She then uses what information she had gleaned to complete the formula she had spent the past few hours working on. Writing the answer on a piece of paper she had in front of her. A frown crosses her lips once she finally finishes the equation. The answer was 22,630. She rubs the bridge of her nose "Rose...What have you gotten yourself into this time around?" With a huff she folds the paper and places it into her gem before she stacks the books up into a single large pile and goes about returning the volumes to their proper shelves.

* * *

With that done Pearl rushes back to the temple to share her findings with the other gems. When she finally did reach the temple, her jaw dropped. The beach was awash with activity. She watched as Greg rummaged about her home, setting up a strange backboard of lights, and other equipment. She looked around studying her surroundings until she saw Rose standing atop the warp smiling at Greg. Pearl then noticed Garnet and Amethyst leaning against a pair of loudspeakers. She rushes over to them and asks "What in the name of the moon goddess is going on here?!" Amethyst shrugs nonchalantly and states "The music man said that he has some new song written, and he wanted to make a video." Pearl nods and states "Alright...But why is he setting up his equipment here?" Amethyst grins at Pearl "Well! He showed it to Rose and she LOVED IT! She told him that she wanted to sing it with him. Of course she roped us into giving him a hand with it, said that we'd bring some pizzazz to it. Well...Plus Greg promised me some human candy if I beat the drums with these sticks!" Pearl blinks and blushes before she states with a defeated tone "Ah of course." Garnet kept her attention on Rose and Greg before she shifted her sunglasses. The fusion then speaks up with her usual calm and collected demeanor, "She might make a few changes to her lyrics."

Amethyst blinks and states "Really? Huh...I bet they'll be better than anything Greg can can cook up!" The young gem releases a delighted squeal as she considers the possibilities. Pearl cringes at this loud reaction, and Garnet just shrugs it off as a smirk comes across her face.

Off in the distance Greg could be seen talking to Rose for a moment before he nods to her and rushes over to the three gems. He grinned at Garnet and Amethyst "Are you two ready?" He blinks as he finally notices Pearl and absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair. He then mumbled "Oh hey Pearl." The pale gem rolls her eyes and walked away. Garnet pursed her lips and stated "Yes...I think I understand how to use this instrument." She pulls the key-tar from behind her and smiles at the human. Greg glances over to Amethyst and raises an eyebrow. She smirks at him and stares down at her fingernails "You got the goods man?" Greg sighs and smiles back at her "You know it." He raises the bag of pop rocks into the air and gives her an evil grin "But first you gotta earn your payment! You got it?" The violet gem nods and rubs her hands together excitedly.

Garnet glances towards Greg "Rose will be leaving on an important mission soon Mr. Universe. We should get this done soon." Greg nods and rushes over to his guitar case."Well let's not keep her waiting!" Greg strums on the strings of his guitar for a moment before he realizes that Garnet and Amethyst had already walked away during his showboating. He blinks and rushes after them screaming "Hey wait up! I need to get the camera ready!"

Several minutes pass. The gems were lined up on stage and Greg had finally finished with the last of his set up. The lights dim and Greg runs into position "Everybody ready?" Rose smiles at him causing him to blush, Garnet gives him a curt nod as she strums the key-tar in order to ensure that it was in tune. Amethyst just sits there behind her drums bored. Greg then starts to strum his guitar, he hits a switch and the lights behind them flash into life, he was then joined by Garnet, who was followed by Amethyst.

* * *

Greg closes his eyes and allows the music to wash over him before he sings the first line " _What can I do for you_?" He was caught by surprise for a moment as he hears Rose join him, he then regains his bearing and the two of them sing in tandem " _What can I do that no one else can do?_ "

Pearl sneaks over and rests her back against the cave wall out of sight from the rest of the group. She sneers at this silly distraction as she thought to herself 'What can I do for you? That is really the best song you could come up with human? HA! You can't do anything for her...' A snide smile creeps over the gem's face as she comes up with a plan, 'Well...So long as we are doing this for his music video I suppose I can lend a hand. Pizzazz indeed!' She walks on-stage and whispers her request into Rose's ear. Her leader smiles at her and the two proceed to dance. They then disappear in a flash of light, and in their place stands a massive fusion.

Garnet stares up at Rainbow Quartz with her usual emotionless look plastered upon her face. Amethyst grins and waves over to the fusion. Greg's jaw dropped as he watched Rainbow dance, but he continues playing his guitar. Once the song finishes the two defuse, and Pearl drops the mike. Greg grins at Rose and screams "I can't believe I got that on video, what on earth was that!?" Rose lets out a chuckle and states proudly "That was Rainbow Quartz..."

As the two spoke Garnet glances over to Pearl who was posing smugly on the makeshift stage and shakes her head in disapproval before she simply walks away. Greg and Rose finally finish their discussion as Rose disappears in a flash of light. Amethyst then rushed over to Greg and yelled "Hey I hit the drums so pay up!" The man rolls his eyes and pulls the pop rocks out of his pocket. He then tossed them over to the miniature gem "Here ya go." Amethyst takes the bag and attempts to rip it open with her teeth as she sits atop the warp pad beside Pearl who chuckles at the gem's antics.

* * *

Pearl then looks over to Greg and states "You know you're just a phase right?" Greg releases a sigh as he had heard all of this vitriol before. "No Pearl I don't know that..." Amethyst plays with her bag of candy for a moment as she listens to the discussion. She couldn't help but roll her eyes and think to herself 'Why do these two have to go at each other like this? It's really annoying. I mean honestly Pearl, he'll be dead soon enough. Let Rose have her fun.'

Amethyst grinned as she finally succeeded in opening the bag of candy. She places one of the rocks into her mouth and continues to listen in absentmindedly as the two of them yammered on for several minutes before Pearl went into some talk about fusion 'Lame...' Amethyst blinks as the pop rocks sizzled on her tongue. This causes the young gem to snicker and roll about the warp pad as she enjoyed the new sensation. The two continue to argue with one another until Greg asked the question "Has any human ever tried to fuse with a gem?" Amethyst blinks, she didn't know the answer to this, and it seemed that neither did Pearl. She turns her head and watches the fight now somewhat interested as Greg victoriously raises the mike into the air and pronounces "I will try!" He then drops the microphone in the same manner that Pearl had earlier.

Amethyst grins at Greg, and when Pearl walks away she howled "Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhh!" in support of her human friend. Greg quickly collects the microphone exclaiming "What am I doing? These things are expensive!" once the mike was put away he runs off to his van leaving Amethyst behind.

Finding herself alone the bored gem rushes into the temple before she starts exploring. Eventually she comes across Garnet sitting in the burning room as was so often the case with the fusion.

Amethyst grins and pounced onto the fusion's hair in an attempt to get her attention however it seems that the fusion's thought's were elsewhere. Disappointed the indigo prankster thinks to herself 'Hm... Maybe I should go mess with Pearl...Nah, she's probably just gonna rant about Greg or something like that...Whelp might as well get a nap in!' the violet gem quietly transforms herself into a cat and rests on the flat face of Garnet's hair.

* * *

Garnet was completely unaware unaware of Amethyst's antics due to the internal dialogue which was going on inside of her mind. Ruby sizzled in anger as she thought about tonight's events "Sapphy can you believe _her_! Using fusion like...Like that! To lord over some human who managed to get Rose's attention?! I mean really, it must make you angry." Ruby stares at Sapphire for another long moment before she screams "Come on say SOMETHING! ANYTHING!" Ruby continues to fume for several more moments as Sapphire watches her in silence. The blue gem was of course annoyed by what had occurred, but so is the way of fate. What aggravated her even more was Ruby's anger concerning this matter. She knew what was going to happen, she could see it through Garnet's eyes. There was no need to rant like this. Eventually Sapphire lets out a tired sigh and looks to her partner "Ruby...I understand that what Pearl did was not right, but I don't believe that we should expend our energy like this. Besides, Rose did agree to fuse." Ruby glares at Sapphire and states "Do you really think that Rose knew about Pearl's plan?" Sapphire shakes her head and states "No of course not. She probably believed Pearl was trying to help with the video."

Ruby glares at Sapphire, though her anger seems to be starting to fade and states "So miss I know everything, how do you think we should react to this slap to the face to everything we believe in" Ruby's eyes in their mental space widen as she states "HM!" A chuckle escapes Sapphire's lips as her she looks at Ruby eye to eyes. She grins at her and states "Well you know what. Since you seem to have taken such a personal interest in this. Through Garnet you can see just as well as me, why don't you take a look at what awaits us." Ruby smirks at Sapphire and states "I like the way you think." Several moments pass and Ruby finally glances over to Sapphire, finally calm she states"You know...There are a lot of terrible futures that can come out of this choice, sure you want to give me the reigns?" Sapphire rolls her eye "You know that you aren't the oneholding the reign's. We are a fusion after all. Garnet will ensure that both of our wishes are met, and that we take the best path." Garnet chuckles as the two of them finally reach a consensus and she gets up off of the ground.

Finally taking notice of the lump of fur on top of her head Garnet lifts Amethyst up off of her hair and states "Did you sleep well Amethyst?" Amethyst yawns and transforms back into her usual form "I was...Until you decided to interrupt it." Garnet chuckles and pats the gem's white hair. "So mind telling me what happened after I left?"

 **Hope you all enjoyed this, and until next time see ya!**


	2. We Need to Talk (Part 2)

**Chapter 1:We Need to Talk (PII)**

 **Welcome back everyone. Hope yall are having a good time out there. Sorry about how long this one took, been busy lately. Enjoy! Also just so there is no confusion, the Rose section takes place before the other two parts of the chapter.**

Greg worked tirelessly to pack all of his equipment away to prepare for tonight. He grunted as he pulled the lighting panels out from the back of the cave, and returned them to his van. Several hours passed, and he sat himself down to rest. He then glanced to the tape of the song, and sighed. He placed it into the VHS he had stored away in his van and watched it before he attempted to replicate the dance moves which Pearl had done. He struggled to raise his leg over his head and released a loud yelp as he fell on his behind. He released a loud sigh and exclaimed "Geez...How'd she get her legs to do that?" He closes his eyes and tries to figure out what he is going to do, but nothing comes to him.

Garnet and Amethyst had been watching Greg for several minutes. Amethyst had returned to her perch atop Garnet's hair and exclaims "Why are we coming back out here?" Garnet glances up at her and sighs "Well...Greg is doing something rather unwise. I thought it would be best for us to lend him a hand. I believe that the proper human term is to take pity on him." Amethyst blinks and looks towards the van as she watches Greg attempt to replicate Pearl's dance moves before she exclaims "He really was serious about trying to fuse with Rose." She then bursts out into a laughing fit as he falls over. Garnet purses her lips and calmly walks over to the dazed man only to gain the strong desire to chuck Amethyst into the ocean when she ran over to him and exclaimed "Hey! Are you dead?!" Greg's eyes snap open and he yells "No, no I'm alive!" Amethyst's attention was then grabbed by the television and she screams with childlike wonder "Whoa cool! It's us from before!" Greg nods and states "Yeah I was just trying to get my head around this fusion dance." Amethyst cackles at him and states "Fusion isn't about using your head dude." Greg looked over to Garnet and pleads "You guys have got to help me out here, I need to be able to fuse with Rose." Inside of Garnet's mind Ruby goes wide eyed and states "Ugh... This is going to take a bit of work." She cracks her knuckles and glances at Sapphire before he yells "Hey Sapphy you want to give him the talk, or should I?" Sapphire smirks and states nonchalantly "I got it." Garnet then goes into a dry statement of what exactly happened in a fusion. Once Garnet finished the fusion education session Amethyst continues to cackle but manages to get out "Shhhh! I still want to see him try."

Greg hears this, and finally the crushing doubt of his situation falls upon him he states aloud "What was I thinking? This is never going to work, I'm never going to be a gem." Ruby releases a sigh inside of Garnet's mind and states "We need to get rid of her... The adults need to talk." Ruby glances downwards until she sees a stick she then exclaims "Alright babe your best with advice, I'll give him a pep talk once your done, and then we can watch the fireworks." Sapphire smiles at Ruby in their mental scape and chuckles at her antics. Garnet picks up the stick and chucks it off into the distance yelling to Amethyst "Give us some privacy!" Greg glances over to Garnet with a curious look in his eye. He thinks to himself 'Great...Now the strong silent one is going to berate me for how much of a fool I am.' However much to the man's surprise she does not. Instead she goes into a short speech about how fusion would never work if he did his best to simply imitate Pearl, instead he had to be himself. She then removes her glasses and shows him her three eyes. Shocked by this he states "EYE! Think I get it...He then glances away from her awkwardly as she winks at him before he looks back to the stage lights and the boards and grins. 'Make my own dance huh... Well I suppose if I'm going to do that, I should do it in style.

Inside their shared mentalscape Ruby chuckles at the man's antics and bows to Sapphire who grins at her and pronounces "I dub thee Ruby, Mistress of Romance!" Sapphire then curtsies in turn and Ruby screams into the mentalscape "And I dub thee Sapphy **Mistress of Long Winded Speeches and Making Me Look Cooler Than I Already Am!** " Sapphire rolls her eye and exclaims "Please...You are the hot overzealous one in this relationship, I'm the one who makes us cool." Ruby rolls her eyes and laughs before embracing Sapphire in a hug "Fine...We're both awesome!" Garnet walks away to allow Greg to do as he would. She shook their shared head at them as she does so.

* * *

In a far off land Rose quietly makes her way through a thick forest as she searches for the gem beast who the group had been searching for over the past few weeks. The wind blew past the trees causing leaves to fall to the ground before her. She hears movement behind her and quietly grabs the pommel of her blade curious as to what it was. She then spots a pair of deer running through the forests and releases a sigh of relief before she continues on deeper and deeper into the forest.

As she walked through the woods, Rose contemplated the events of these past few months. She beamed as she thought of her adventures with Greg. Five thousand years of hunting after gems, and righting the wrongs of the war had turned her adventures with the gems into a monotonous endless trek. She loved all of her friends dearly of course, but this was a nice change of pace. Her relationship with Greg was a pleasant distraction from the woes of their world. There was something exciting about the mundane lives of humans. Their simple lives provided endless curiosities for the ancient gem. With them everything was fairly simple. They did not have to deal with the never ending shame of the war. Yes they have made their own scars in the world, but have the things they have done left scars as deep as the Kintergarten? No they have not.

The trees shake once more, and one of them was toppled over by a powerful force. Several trees followed suit as a trail of destruction was being created by some powerful beast. Rose blinked and pushed her thoughts to the side for now. With her attention now turned to this creature Rose frowns and thinks to herself 'Here we go again." She unsheathed her sword in order to prepare for the coming battle. Eventually the creature emerged from the thicket of trees, and looked down at the pink haired warrior whom it towered over. The beast was the size of a house and resembled a white stag, its pale yellow antlers glistened against the light of the sun as if they were crafted from crystal, which they were, its pale white fur flowed down its massive frame. It narrowed its eyes at its enemy showing one off the yellow gem embedded in its right pupil. It releases a snort and a loud howl to try and scare her off.

Rose took on a defensive stance. She recognized this gem. It was a Citrine. It was rare to find a member of the warrior caste corrupted like this, but it seemed that today was a time for rare occurrences. After all it was not every day that a gem other than Garnet fused. The beast lowers its head and bellows once more before it charges at her aiming to impale her upon the sharp spires of its horns. She stands firm as several millennium of combat had honed Rose's defensive skills and she was prepared for nearly any attack this beast could dish out. Her bubble forms around her, protecting her from the beast's harrowing attack and the forces of it launches her into the air. Rose quickly pops her defensive bubble before landing atop the beast's horns. She slides down the length length of the crystal spire, and runs down the length of its skull before she comes to the beast's neck. With a voice filled with remorse she exclaims "I am sorry for this. Some day we will find a way to fix this mess." She then jams her blade into the beast's exposed hide. The beast howls in pain as its body dissipates in a flash of light. Rose falls towards the ground before she forms a bubble to prevent her from simply slamming into it at full force. She then searches for the stag's gem. Upon finding it she encases it in a pink bubble and sends it back to the temple.

She take a moment to stare at the empty space which the gem's bubble once filled, and thinks to herself 'How many times have I made that promise...' She then shakes her head. Such thoughts would get her nowhere. She then glanced over to the sun and smiled "Well Mr. Universe I suppose I can bear to go on one more adventure tonight." She then turns around and starts making her way back to the warp pad.

* * *

After her argument with Greg, Pearl paced around her sanctum within the temple and fumed over the human's gall. She stood atop her waterfall, and summoned a hologram who grabs one of her swords and yells "Do you wish to engage in combat!?" Pearl closes her eyes and grabs her own blade before she states with an annoyed tone in her voice "Yes." The holo-Pearl takes on an offensive stance, and screams "Attack mode alpha! Engage!" The hologram charges forward swinging its blade with a blow that would skewer any average opponent, but Pearl simply bats it off to the side with a simple flick of her wrist. She then grumbles to herself as she asks the hologram

"What does he have that you don't have? Given his life style he'll only live to be somewhere around his eighties if he's lucky, that's only around 60 years from now! Surely Rose must realize that this will only hurt her." She makes a downward slash at the hologram, and it parries her blade before it slides off to the side. Pearl's eyes narrow at the construct, and it proceeds charge at her again. She slides beneath it's blade as it and stabs upward. The hologram yells "Challenger wins!" it then fades away. Pearl smiles at her handiwork before she drops her blade into the water, allowing the pair to sink back in to join the rest of her collection. She then mumbles to herself "I don't know why I let myself get so worked up over her playthings...Oh right because every time she does this, it dies and then she spends the next century or two whining about how she misses this human, or that human, and you have to be the one to help pull her out of her grief."

She rubs the bridge of her nose and mumbles "At least in the past they only lived into their fifties at most. Nowadays they live long enough for you to get attached to them before they die." Pearl closes her eyes and listens to the waterfalls for a few moments before she hears the sound of the warp pad activating. It seemed that Rose had returned home. She releases a sigh and states "I'll let you have your fun tonight...But this is the last time Rose. I'm going to make you see sense for once."


	3. We Need to Talk (Part 3)

**Chapter 1:We need to talk (P3)**

 **Well here we are, the big moment. Honestly I hope you all enjoy this one.**

Greg stared at the hours of work that he had put into preparing for tonight. The lights which he had set up as the background for the video had been converted into a makeshift dance floor, he had spent the past few minutes agonizing over what kind of music he would use before he finally decided upon the clasic 'An Endless Romance'. He blinks as he hears the warp pad activate, and closes his eyes to prepare himself for tonight. He places the record onto the record player, and sets the needle.

* * *

Garnet and Amethyst silently move behind one of the shattered pieces of the temple. Amethyst quietly plays in the sand before she whispers "So do ya think the music man is going to manage it?" Garnet glances down at her and shrugs before she states "We'll see. It all depends." She adjusts her specs for a moment as she stares into the future, and a light smile crosses her lips. There were only a few futures where tonight went poorly for the two of them. Inside of the fusion's mental-scape Sapphire breathes a sigh of relief and glances to Ruby. "I suppose that we've done the best that we can do to help those two...It's all up to that human now." Garnet glances down at Amethyst and then rests her head against the cold stone. The warp pad activates, and Garnet and Amethyst watch Rose step out onto the beach.

* * *

Greg closes his eyes and runs his fingers through his hair as he thinks to himself 'Well...I suppose if we're ever going to make this work, tonight's the night to do it.' Rose calmly sets her blade to the side by the cave's entrance, and walks over to Greg's van which had been sitting on the beach since they had last seen one another. She glances around, and grins at the man's work. It was a very pleasant surprise. She looks to Greg and makes the simple statement "What's all this?" Greg simply turns around, and smiles at her before he takes her hand, and silently guides her across the dance floor, over to the foot pedal to activate the lights. He grins as they engage, illuminating the couple. Rose stares at him in shock. She thinks to herself 'He put all of this together...' After a moment of hesitation Greg starts to guide her along in their dance, all the while Rose couldn't help but wear a stupid grin on her face. Eventually they reach a makeshift stairway which Greg proceeds to climb up, and the two stare into each other's eyes. Greg then tips Rose over and the two kiss. After a long moment Greg pulls away, and states "We...We didn't fuse."

Rose blinks and exclaims "What!" she then starts laughing. Internally she states "He... He wanted to fuse?" Unsure of what to do she just continues laughing to try and diffuse the situation and states "You...You can't fuse...Your a human!" With his hopes crushed Greg looks to her, and states "I know, that's the problem!" Rose blinks at him and states "That's not a problem...I love human's your all... So... funny." she thinks to herself again 'He wanted to fuse..." She starts laughing again, completely blown away by the man's dedication.

* * *

Pearl strides out onto the beach once she saw that Rose was well into her date with Greg. She notices Garnet and Amethyst hiding behind a stone hand and she carefully makes her way over to them. She whispers to Garnet "What did I miss?" Garnet looks over to her and shrugs only to be distracted by the sound of laughter. She looks over and is stunned to hear the words "You can't fuse...You're a human." In their mental scape Ruby blinks and sits there for a moment utterly stunned by what Rose had said "You're kidding me." She places her face into her hands and screams "THAT IS THE WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT COULD HAVE BEEN SAID HERE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING ROSE?!" Sapphire glances over to Ruby and states "You know that there was the chance of this happening. There were a few poten..." She was quickly interrupted as Ruby exclaimed "But every bad future had this happen in it Sapphy!" the eternal flame covers her face in her hands. Pearl breathes a sigh of relief, and a smile crosses her lips 'So it seems that Rose did have enough sense to put a stop to this.'

* * *

Greg looks at her, with his hopes completely crushed he states "Look...These past few months have been great." He looks at her and thinks to himself 'Pearl was right...' He shakes his head and continues "But I'm starting to worry about the future." Rose glances down at him and thinks 'Does he think he did something wrong? What am I doing wrong here...Maybe if I joke with him then he'll feel better about this?' She then exclaims "Just ask Garnet!" before she continues laughing.

He then continues meekly "But I'm starting to wonder...If...You respect me?" Rose listens to his questions, but she didn't know what to say...So she kept laughing. "You're hilarious Mr. Universe." Greg stares at her for a long moment and pleads "Rose please." Rose continues to laugh. "Can you just..." Rose continues to laugh, so he yells "Talk to me for one second! Like a real person!" Rose stops laughing 'Oh...' Her eyes widen as she realizes just what she had been doing. She states weakly "I'm...I'm not a real person... Haven't we... Is this not how it works?"

* * *

Pearl glances over to the other side of the beach, her eyes widen, and her jaw drops. Internally all she can think is "No..."

* * *

Greg blinks, utterly shocked for the longest moment and then the realization comes upon him 'She wasn't kidding about the whole...Alien invasion thing.' He then just stares at her for a moment, dumbstruck and he eventually manages to get out "Oh...This is so weird...You... You really are an alien." Left with nothing else to do he just starts laughing. Rose stares at him for a long moment, she glances away guiltily 'What do I do... How do I fix this?' She then states "Why are you laughing He continues to laugh as tears suddenly start streaming down his eyes. Rose states weakly "Why are you crying?"

* * *

Pearl's eyes continue to widen and she whispers "No...No...No." Garnet smiles as she listens to the two of them start to talk. Ruby releases a sigh of relief and she states "Well...At least this is starting to move on a decent path." Sapphire nods and continues to watch.

* * *

Greg looks at her and with panic in his voice he exclaims "How are we going to make this work?" Rose blinks and asks awkwardly "Fusion?" She thinks to herself 'Please let it be fusion...' Greg stares at her for a long moment and screams "No us!" Rose stares at him and suddenly the realization washes over her 'Oh...Oh he...And I've...' She blinks and asks guiltily "What...What should we do now?" Rose asks herself 'How could I have been so blind? He set this all up just for us, and here I've been acting as if he's some sort of pet. Why would he want to continue this? 'Yet to her surprise he looks to her and states "Let's...Let's just talk." He then moves forward, and Rose moves forward to join him. The two embrace and start talking.

* * *

Garnet quietly rests her head against the stone as her two counterparts listen into this whole ordeal. Eventually Rose lifts Greg into her arms, and the two just start dancing again. Ruby glances over to Sapphire with a huge grin on her face before she states "Ya know...Those two had to have a chat. It's good for them." Sapphire nods and the two have their attention pulled away from the two of them by Pearl who asks "Why are those two still dancing!? It didn't work!" Inside the mental-scape Ruby's eyes erupt in flame due to her anger. She starts ranting leaving her indisposed. Garnet just glances over to Pearl and she states calmly "Yes it did." Pearl blinks and exclaims "What?" Garnet shrugs and states "It worked." Inside of the mental-scape Sapphire was doing her best to calm Ruby down but her partner was still screaming at the pale gem. Amethyst smiles at the two of them and proclaims "I think this one is my favorite!" Pearl blinks and states dejectedly "I think he's her favorite too." She thinks to herself 'I have to put a stop to this before Rose hurts herself again."

* * *

Several hours pass, and the gems eventually vacate the beach leaving Greg and Rose by themselves. The pair could be seen lying in the sand, side by side, staring into the starlit night. Rose glances at Greg and smiles. Greg smiles back and he states calmly "You know... Tonight wasn't the best date we've ever had." Rose grabs his hand and states "Well...On that I think I both agree and disagree." Greg raises an eyebrow and states "Oh?" Rose shrugs and looks back up at the sky. Greg does the same. Eventually his eyes start to close, and his breathing slows. Rose grins at this and states "Good night Mr. Universe. She carefully lifts him into her arms, carries him over to his van, and places him onto the mattress. Greg idly stares up at her and states meekly and with a smile on his face "Good night Rose." The two share a kiss.

Rose walks back into the temple, and enters her chamber. She smiles softly and cradles a small object in her hand. It was one of the light bulbs from the dance floor. She then hums the song that Greg had put on for them tonight, and starts to dance. She blinks as her room creates a Greg from the clouds that offers her his hand, and she sends it away before summoning it back. She then states quietly, to the point where it was almost a whisper "Greg...I promise that we'll find a way to make this work." The image nods and fades back into the clouds. She shakes her head and starts humming the song once more.


	4. We Need to Talk (Epilogue)

**Epilogue**

 **Well just to finish this off, here's a little epilogue with more salty Pearl before we get into the stories proper. I want to apologize for how long this took to write. I can't say that it was caused by anything aside from my own laziness.**

The next morning Pearl knocked on the door to Rose's room, and she states "Rose, may I come in?" The gem embedded into the door glows pink before it opens, and a soft voice states warmly "Of course Pearl." Pearl nods and calmly walks to Rose's side before she states "Rose...We need to talk." Rose glances down at her oldest comrade and smiles before she states "What do you need Pearl?"

The gem's hand shakes as she pulls a piece of paper out from the storage of her gem and hands it to her. She then states meekly "Rose...Please, I need you to listen to me." Rose takes the paper and glances at the number which had been written. 22,630. She looks to Pearl with a curious gaze and states

"Alright." Pearl looks up to her and states "I'm sorry to have to put it this way, but please. Stop what you are doing with Mr. Universe." Rose's gaze falls back down to meet Pearl's and she states with a harsher tone"I don't see what possible reason I have too Pearl. Please explain, is it getting in the way of our work in the team." Pearl's eyes widen as her pleas fall upon deaf ears "Rose...I understand that it might seem alright at this moment. I understand that it might even be fun. But please listen to me on this. You know how short the lives of humans are. That paper you have there is my calculation for the life expectancy of Mr. Universe in terms of how many days he will probably live. Given his general health habits, lifestyle choices, and other such data I think that is a generous estimate Rose."

Rose's eyes harden and she stares at the paper before she states calmly "Thank you Pearl. You may go." Pearl blinks and she seems to want to say something else, but she simply nods and walks to the door. She stops and glances to Rose. Pearl manages to take a deep breath and closes her eyes before she states meekly "I just don't want to see you get hurt again." The door then opens as Rose turns away from Pearl as she had her attention on the paper. Rose lets out a sigh and she runs the math in her head the estimate while not spot on was close to what she came up with a few weeks earlier when her curiosity had gotten the better of her. She glances around her room and then shifts uncomfortably.

She closes her eyes and states "I wish to go to the Burning room." The path opens, and she makes her way to the lava pit. She drops the parchment into it, and whispers to herself "We'll find a way to make it work." as she watches the parchment burn.

With that done, she makes her way up the stairway, nodding to Garnet and Amethyst as they walk by. She opens the door allowing the sun to wash over her. She sees Greg sitting on the beach, strumming his guitar. He looks over his shoulder and grins at her before he waves and yells "Hey Rose! I came up with an awesome idea for a song last night. Want to hear it?!" Rose smiles at him, and steps off the cold stone floors of the cavern, and onto the warm sands of the beach.


	5. Working for Real (Part 1)

**Chapter II: Working for Real**

 **Hello everyone! I'm excited to bring you the start of the first truly original piece in this series. Hope you all enjoy it!**

 **Timeline: 1 month after We Need to Talk**

Greg grumbled as the glare of the rising sun blared in his eyes as it flared forth from the windshield of his van. He tries to cover his face with his blanket, but to no avail. He rubs his eyes and releases a loud yawn before he climbs into the back of his van to put his clothes on. With that done he opens up the mini-fridge he had shoved against the corner of his van, and pulls out a package of eggs. He pulls out his waffle iron and fumbles with the batteries for a moment until he finally slides them in. "There we go..." With that done he sets it on top of the mini-fridge, and cracks one of the eggs on the side of the square box. He smiles as he hears the sound of an egg sizzling on the hot surface and climbs over the mounds of garbage littering the floor of his van to open the doors of his home to let the light in. He covers his eyes as they adjust to the light, and he stares out onto the beach where he had been parked for these past few weeks.

Greg spends several minutes enjoying the view before sniffs at the air and his eyes widen as he smells burning egg. He groans and runs back over to his meal groaning as he pulls the blackened poultry off of the makeshift stove "Oh no..." He looks down at the egg carton and notices that he only had three eggs left. His stomach grumbles, but he puts them back into the mini-fridge. He searches through his wallet and sighs as he finds it empty. He then walks over to his guitar case and mumbles to himself "Looks like today's going to be a rough one."

* * *

Greg made his way into the town. He glances around as he searches for a place to set up. Eventually he noticed a few crates lying just outside the Funland arcade which would suit his purpose well enough. He sets himself down, and places a tin can on the ground in front of him before he starts playing songs on his guitar. People walk past him, and some stop to drop some change in the can. Eventually an older gentleman using a cane, who appeared to be in his mid-sixties stops by and stares down at him. He had gray hair, wore gray tweed suit, a large square nose dominated his face, and had sunglasses covering his eyes. He looks down at the tin can and then back to Greg. He smirks and places his hands in his pockets before he states with a thick New England accent "So Universal boy, know any good songs?" Greg blinks at him and then frowns before he states "It's Mr. Universe sir, and yeah I know plenty. Do you have a request?" The man pulls his glasses off showing two murky brown eyes. He then shrugs and states "I suppose I take what opportunities come my way. Give it your best shot Universe lad." Greg raises an eyebrow and states "All right then." He strums his guitar and starts playing a song which he felt the man might recognize. The old man nods slowly and eventually starts to dance. He swings from side to side tapping his cane against the board walk as he enjoyed himself. The old man's enthusiasm brought a smile to Greg's face and once the song was finished he glances over to the old fart only to find him grinning at Greg. With childlike glee the old man lets out a boisterous laugh and exclaims "Yowza kid! I haven't heard anyone that good in a long time."

Greg smiles and states "Its a talent I suppose." The man raises his cane and spends a moment staring at Greg he then states "If I can ask kid, what are ya doing out on the street?" Greg glances at him for a moment before he shrugs "I'm just doing my best to get a bit of extra money sir." The old man looks at Greg and shrugs. He takes his cane and taps the side of the can. As he hears the change clink against the side he sighs. He takes a card out of his pocket and holds it out to Greg. He then smirks at Greg and states "I'm afraid I'm a bit short on cash right now kid, but if ya want to make an honest living kid here's my card." He then calmly walks away. Greg glances down at the card which was bore the image of an elephant washing itself along with the name "It's a Wash". On the bottom of the card it also had the address and phone number of the place. He sighs and picks up the tin can. His stomach growls as he stares at the measly amount of money which he had collected after hours of work. He shakes his head and calmly sets the instrument back into its case before he heads back to the beach to go get his van.

* * *

When Greg reaches the beach he notices Amethyst and Rose standing outside his van and grins at the two of them. As Rose starts to turn around he runs over to hide behind a rock. Rose seems slightly disappointed as Greg was nowhere to be found. Amethyst runs to Rose's side and takes her hand. The pair start heading back to the temple. As the two of them pass by the stone Greg snickers mischievously and jumps out from behind the rock and tackles Rose into the sand. He grins at her and states "Good Afternoooooooooo!" before he was rocketed off of her by Amethyst's whip. He groans as he was slammed into the beach. Amethyst blinks and Rose looks at her angrily. "Oh come on...I didn't know it was him! It could have been a crab monster or something." All the purple gem could do was give a light shrug and kick at a rock for a moment before Rose gets up and runs over to Greg's side.


	6. Working for Real (Part 2)

**Working for Real (Part 2)**

 **Hello again peeps! Welcome to another exciting chapter of 22k! Plus we'll be breaking the 10k word marker soon!**

Rose glances down at him and asks softly "Are you alright?" She kneels down and pokes his shoulder and smiles as he rolls over and chuckles back at her. He winces as he forces himself up "Yeah I'll be fine. I suppose I should have known by now that it's not the best idea to try and get the jump on you guys." Amethyst glares at him and exclaims "Yeah dude, that wasn't cool. I could have really hurt ya!" Rose glances back at her and then back to Greg before she nods in agreement. "It was sweet of you, but let's not do something like that again alright." Greg blushes and runs his hands through his hair before he states "Anyway how have you guys been? That last mission must have really been a doozy for it to have taken you so long." Rose smiles softly at him and shrugs before she states "It was just..." She was interrupted by Amethyst who seemed to be excited to tell this story "Well ya see Greg we went into this cave system. And there was this gem monster right! And it looked like a mole, it was really fast so whenever we'd get close to it it would dig another hole!" She made several random hand motions as she tried to explain the story. "We'd lose track of it since it'd just connect to another tunnel! It only took us a few hours to actually poof the thing, cause we're just awesome like that! But then we had to find our way out. Which was hard because of cave ins and stuff like that. But we got out eventually!" Rose glances down at Amethyst and laughs before she nods and adds "Yes...That's pretty much how it went." She then shrugs and rolls her eyes apologetically at Greg for the gem's confusing retelling of their adventure.

Greg raises a brow at this and just shrugs before he smiles at Amethyst and lets out a loud whistle "That's quite the story. It's more exciting than anything I've been up to for sure." Amethyst grins at him and cackles before she exclaims "Darn tootin!" Rose glances down at her and states "You know Amethyst I think that Pearl could use a hand with organizing the bubbles down in the temple. Why don't you give her a hand with that?" Amethyst glances up at Rose before the large woman winks at her and states "I know you have your system with your room. I'd imagine that expertise would be very useful to Pearl." Amethyst grins and salutes before she transforms into an owl and flies off. Rose lets a sigh of relief and turns her attention to Greg before she smiles at him and states with a calm yet embarrassed tone "Sorry about that. Amethyst can get a bit...Energetic at times." Greg winks at her and states "Hey I get it. No need to apologize." She winks back and states "And I did enjoy your surprise."

Rose nods and looks down at him before she states affectionately "So how was your day?" Greg simply shrugs and states "Eh... It was fine, kinda slow without you here but you know how it goes." He rolls his shoulder again and cracks his neck. Rose nods slowly and places a hand on his cheek she then pulls him into a hug. Greg yelps and exclaims "Whoa there! What's the trouble?" Rose blinks and blushes before she states "Nothing! I just am glad to be back, that was a long... Long mission." Greg smiles and wraps his arms around her neck "Well we have a bit of time to talk about it if you want to Rose." She holds him tighter for a moment before she hears him wheezing, and lets him out of her stranglehold of a hug. Greg coughs as he falls to the ground and gives her a thumbs up before he opens the back of his van and motions for her to sit with him.

Rose goes into the details of the mission which by the sounds of it had been a fiasco. Pearl had made herself a nuisance during the entire ordeal, commenting on everything which went wrong, Amethyst had spent her time getting into every dangerous situation that she possibly could have gotten herself into and had destroyed her physical form three times, even with Garnet's abilities they had just barely been able to hold their own against the monster that had created the labyrinth. By the time she had finished the story the sun had crept over the horizon and was slowly starting to descend into a glorious sunset. With her tale done Rose falls back against the floor of the van and covers her face with her hands. "It was supposed to be a simple mission, but it took us five days." Greg glances at her and wasn't quite sure what he could add so he simply takes her hand. "Hey ya know it could have been worse! You guys might not have been able to come back at all. I mean honestly someone could have been seriously hurt!" She glances at him and takes a deep breath before she nods and returns to her usual cheerful demeanor. "That is true I suppose. Who knows what might have happened had we not managed to capture it, the tunnels could have collapsed, and with how you humans like to build your cities on every piece of land in sight, someone might have been hurt." Greg snickers and yells "Darn us humans and our odd tendencies of expanding out into where it would cause an issue for you gems!" Rose nods "Yes your people do tend to cause a great deal of problems for us in our work..." Greg blinks as he notices the seriousness in her tone only for her to give him a kiss on the cheek "But at the same time it is your people's planet." He blushes and smirks at her.

The couple sits there in the back of the van watching the sun set before Greg rubs his neck. He then glances at Rose and states "Hey Rose I have a question for ya. How often do you guys go on these missions?" Rose blinks and glances down at Greg before she shrugs and states "We leave when they come up...Why do you ask?" Greg shrugs and states "Well I was thinking that since you're away so often it would probably be a good idea for me to go get a job down in town. Of course it will cut into our us time...But I have to eat." Rose blinks and states "Well...How often would you be away?" Greg shrugs and states "Probably most of the day for most of week, our jobs generally have specified hours, and they don't just pop up when they pop up." Rose sighs and states dejectedly "Oh." It tore Greg up to see her like this, but he didn't really have much of a choice on this one, "I mean! It's not like town is that far away, so I can come by during lunch. Besides the night is where it's at! What do we need daylight for am I right?" Rose snickers at him and nods slowly. The two of them stare into each others eyes for a long moment before they return their attention to the stars.


	7. Working for Real (Part 3)

**Working for Real (Part 3)**

The next morning Greg got up and turned on his van. He ran over to the gate which kept the beach closed off from most of beach city, and opened it up so that he could get out. He then hopped back into his van, and headed down the road to the car wash. Once he reached the place he went into the office where he saw the old man from yesterday sitting there doing paperwork, there were a variety of odd things on his desk including a pickle jar. The old man smiles at Greg and states "So I see that you decided to take my offer hm?" Greg glances at him and states "I suppose I just wanted a bit more information, I mean don't get me wrong I'm honored that you would give me the offer, but I don't even know your name." The old man leans back in his chair before he pulls out a pickle and states "I suppose that's fair kid...Name's Phineas, Phineas Brine, although my friends call me Fin." Phineas then munches on the fruit and states "What can I say about this place kid? It's a wash, it ain't much but it pays the bills." He leans forward and stares Greg in the eye before he states "I'll tell you what I can offer you. You'll get paid four bucks an hour, I expect ya to be here by eight in the morning to open the place up, and you'll be washing cars." He crosses his arms over his chest, and states "Take it or leave it kid." Greg glances at him and arches an eyebrow before he states "What are the hours and days?" Fin shrugs before he takes another pickle out of the jar and devours it. Once he had finished he states "Usually from eight to five, during the spring we stay open till seven. The place is open seven days a week. Oh yeah and during the winter we shut the wash down. During that time you'll be coming in three days a week and doing maintenance work on the machines to keep them running, as well as keeping the place clean."

Greg bites his bottom lip. The money wasn't that bad, and he could see worse hours, besides if worst came to worst it was just a job at a car wash, it wasn't as if it were a resume builder or anything like that. Fin glances down at his paperwork before he looks back to Greg. "I ain't got all day kid, are you taking it or leaving it. If it's the latter get out." He points his pen towards the door, "My time is valuable to me." Greg glances at the old man and chuckles before he states "Well...I suppose it's worth a shot." Fin nods and opens a cabinet in his desk. He pulls a shirt with the company logo on it and points to the door. "Alright kid, ya got the job. Now head outside, we're going to get you trained so that you can get to work." Greg blinks and asks "Wait, right now? But I mean..." Fin glares at him and points his thumb towards the door before he looks down at his paperwork. Greg gets up and rushes out of the room. It wasn't a good idea to keep the boss waiting on your first day.

Greg stood outside for several minutes as he waited for Fin to come out and tell him what to do. There were no customers as it was still early in the morning, and with it being mid summer most people would wait until later in the season to clean their cars anyway. He blinks as Fin rolls over in an old red Ford Mustang and stops a few feet in front of the wash. Fin then hops out of the car and hands Greg the keys before he states "Alright kid, here's the break. See that hose over there? That's the vacuum, ya have to take that and clear the crap out of these cars before we run it through the power wash. You'll also find a rag and a bucket filled with water and soap over there by the vac. Wash off the rims before it goes through because the power wash can't get into those crevices. Oh yeah, and be careful not to scratch the paint, if ya do it comes out of your pay kid." Fin calmly walks back over to his office and closes the door behind him.

Greg sighs and grabs the rag and vacuum "Here we go..." He then goes about cleaning the car as best he can before he hops into the front seat. He drives it towards the wash before he runs through his training and realizes that he had no idea how to operate an automated power wash. He stops the car and walks back to the office before he opens the door and glances at Fin. "Hey sir, ya kinda forgot to mention how I'm supposed to run it through the machine... Mind giving me a hand with that?" Fin stares at Greg for a long moment before he grumbles to himself and states "Alright kid. I figured you'd be able to figure it out for yourself, but since you don't seem to be so inclined..." Fin marches out of the office leaving his paperwork behind and proceeds to go to his car. He hops in and starts it up before he drives it over to entrance of the wash and lines it up with the track system. Fin hops out of the car and hits a red button on a panel located near the entrance of the wash. A loud buzzer can be heard and several grips activate lodging themselves onto the car wheels. Fin then hops out and motions to the car before he states "All ya have to do is put the thing in neutral when ya get it lined up with the belt kid, and press that button to lock it in. Once you're sure that it's ready to go press the green one and it'll drag the car through. Once it comes out on the other side it can go one of two ways. You either give the car a good checking and clean it off again, then drive it out front to hand it back over to the customer, or ya let the customer drive it through the machine. That's it, that's all I want you to do. You know all of the tricks of the trade around here kid. Do I need to give you a notebook? A beginners guide?" Greg glances at Fin and states "Nah I get it. You can trust me sir." He watches the old man stare him down for a long moment before Fin nods and walks back to his office "Be sure to bring the car back around to the front kid!" Greg then releases a sigh of relief as his boss leaves only to then think to himself 'It's going to be a long day...' In the back of his mind he did wonder what Rose was up to.


	8. Working for Real (Part 4)

**Working for Real (Part 4)**

 **Fun fact! Corundum is the mineral which forms both Rubies and Sapphires when it is exposed to a different minerals and under differing pressure and it is not uncommon for it to have a pinkish shade.**

 **Also guys I want to apologize for how long the last section took me to upload. I was having a bit of trouble making it work with just how boring it was, and I was never happy with it so it became a pain to write. I hope you all enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

* * *

Rose had thought that work had been rough before when she had been certain that she would be able to see Greg after missions. Now they were nearly unbearable. This particular job had been one they had spent the past few years on, they were clearing out a mountain that had been the home of the shooting star. An ancient gem artifact that had been stored here by home world in order to keep it out of her forces hand's. Garnet did her best to punch through the ice without causing a cave in while Pearl and Amethyst wandered through the caverns in order to try and find any monsters milling about the complex.

Hours passed and the team simply continued their vigil in this icy tomb until Garnet finally managed to punch her way through the thick sheet of ice, the cavern trembled once before it settled. Rose glances over to Garnet and states "You know... Maybe we aught to be a bit more careful when making our way through here, we've already been in several collapses, plus with Pearl and Amethyst gone..." Garnet smiles warmly at Rose and shrugs before she states "Don't worry about it Rose, I'm the one who can see the future after all, and I can't see many where this ends poorly." She chuckles and adjusts her glasses before she cracks her knuckles and summons her gauntlets "One more swing and we'll be through." She winds up a punch and slams it into the ice wall creating a loud thud noise as it collides with the ice..

After a moment the cavern starts to tremble and Garnet pulls her gauntlet back. She then runs over to Rose's side and screams "Bubble us now!" Rose blinks and summons the bubble around them. She grunts as she struggles to maintain the protective sphere as the weight of the ice and snow comes down upon her. Garnet blinks, horrified by what had occurred, she then glances at Rose guiltily and releases a whistle before she states nonchalantly "Well...That... Went rather poorly." Rose glares at her. Garnet sighs and adjusts her glasses before she states "Well...I suppose we need to find a way out of here..." Rose nods and states "Garnet, I need Ruby and Sapphire..." The fusion stops for a moment and states "Rose..." The pink gem glares at her and exclaims "It was your brashness that got us into this mess, now I need your two halves if we are going to make it out of here." Garnet blinks and states "We could fuse..." Rose shakes her head, 'That's not an option.' she then states "I need to keep the snow off of us if we are going to get out of here. Corundum won't be able to get us out of this one, now please just unfuse. Garnet lets out a heavy sigh and crosses her arms before she states "I will follow orders, but don't expect them to be happy about this." then in a flash of light she was gone, only to be replaced by two smaller gems.

* * *

Rose glances at Ruby and then to Sapphire before she states "Alright...Now I need you two to listen to me..." Ruby rubs her head for a moment and Sapphire wraps an arm around her in support before she states coldly "Give us a moment..." The bubble strains against the weight of the snow and Rose closes her eyes in focus, a bead of sweat comes down her face. Ruby then gets up and opens her eyes and yells "Alright since you needed us so bad tell us what to do!" Rose glares at her and states in a commanding voice "Ruby I need you to melt the snow so that we can move forward. Sapphire freeze the snow once we've gotten past it and tell us where we need to go to reach Pearl and Amethyst. I doubt their physical forms will have managed to stay in tact with the tunnel's collapse." Ruby summons her gauntlets and wraps them in flame. Rose glances at the two of them and states with a pained tone "Are we ready to go?" The two small gems nod and Rose opens a hole in the bubble to allow them to get to work.

Ruby grumbled as her flames melted the snow. She hated being separated from Sapphire. Why did Rose have to be right? It's not like she could have seen that this would happen. What was her deal with not wanting to form Corundum anyway? She had never been resistant to that kind of thing when the mission demanded it before this disaster, and she must have known that the fusion would have been more than capable of getting them through this, and it would have meant that her and Sapphire wouldn't have had to defuse. She continues her internal grumbling as she melts the snow. Once the hot water had made its way beneath the bubble and started to melt the snow beneath them allowing them easier movement in their icy prison Rose started to push the bubble forward. Sapphire calmly refroze the water once they had gotten through to prevent another cave in. She could see that this would lead to a good outcome, although much like her partner she had been shocked to learn that Rose hadn't wanted to fuse, that certainly had not been one of the likely outcomes of her visions. It was the second time she had been wrong today.

As they made progress through the cavern her curiosity got the best of Sapphire and she asks "Rose you must realize that Corundum could have gotten us through much more quickly. I don't mean to question your choice in strategy as it is quite effective...But why would you want to go through all this extra work?" The pink gem glances down at her and states "Now isn't really the time for this Sapphire... Why don't we get ourselves out of this mess first hm?" Sapphire shrugs and states "It's not as if there is anything else to talk about. Besides we have a few hours before we reach Amethyst, and Pearl, and after that it will take us a while to get back to the warp." Rose blushes and states "Really it isn't important..." Sapphire smirks 'Got ya...' Ruby glances back at her blue counterpart and takes note of her expression. She then smiles mischievously and continues her work to melt the snow, this might be a bit more fun than she would have thought. "Well since it's not like we're doing anything else, and since you've gone to all this trouble to make us do this extra work... I think we deserve an explanation!" Sapphire nods in agreement and looks up to her leader teasingly "Yes it would be important for the sake of future missions!" Rose glances down at the two of them and flicks some of the water which had coalesced on her hands from the steam off with her fingers before she states "You know I could probably pop this bubble and form a new one around myself before my physical form was broken..." Ruby and Sapphire glance at each other and burst out laughing. Rose's cheeks turn to a deep shade of pink and she pushes forward stating "Come on... Let's keep moving."

* * *

The group progresses through the snow filled cavern with as much haste as they can manage. Eventually Sapphire motions for them to stop and she states calmly "Ruby...We are three feet away from Pearl, Amethyst is around twenty feet away. You're going to want to melt all the snow in a three feet radius. Rose...Don't let your hair catch on fire, and be ready for intense heat followed by intense cold." Ruby cracks her knuckles and then her neck before she states cheerfully "Alright Rose... Lets light it up."

Rose creates a hole in the bubble through which Ruby could stick her arm through. The temperature rises within the bubble to the point where every ounce of liquid inside steams off of them, if a human were with them they would have been roasted from the inside out. The snow turned into steam, and then boiling water quickly starts to rise into the air, and melt the snow but Sapphire smirks and motions for Ruby to move out of the way. The red gem nods and backs away from the opening in the bubble only to quip "You know...I think that we need to help this water chill out. Sapphy if you please!" The blue gem then takes a deep breath and then releases it in a howl of wind, just as quickly as it had risen the temperature drops back to below zero. Steam covers the bubble preventing them from being able to see outside.

Ruby snickers and glances at Sapphire before she states "You know...You really do leave me breathless..." Sapphire laughs at her partner for a moment before Rose rolls her eyes and snickers at the two of them. "Is it safe for me to pop the bubble so we can find those two?" Sapphire nods and the pink sphere dissipates. The group was surrounded on all sides by ice. Sapphire looks up and states "This will hold for around ten minutes, then the snow will bring it back down. Let's find Pearl, and Amethyst and get out of here."

Rose nods and calmly glides around the floor only to have Sapphire join her in the air. Ruby stands still in order to avoid accidentally melting anything. Several minutes pass and eventually Rose takes note of an indentation in the ice. She carefully sets herself down, and glances at Sapphire for confirmation. The blue gem nods and idly flits around as she moves off into the distance to find the other gem. Rose lets out a heavy sigh and wraps her hands around the gem, and lifts her out of the ice with her innate strength before she carefully dusts it off. It was Pearl's gem. She lets out a sigh of relief and then looks over to Sapphire who cradled Amethyst in her arms. With that the two of them return to Ruby and Sapphire states "Let's send these two off... You know how they can get when something goes wrong, and to be honest I would prefer not to have to listen to them for the better part of an hour."

Normally Rose would object, but in this case she happened to agree with Sapphire, besides she was enjoying her time with these two. Garnet unfused so rarely that the three of them almost never had time to talk. She wraps Pearl in a bubble and sends it off to the temple. Sapphire does the same with Amethyst, and she goes rigid as she hears the ice start to crack. She looks at Rose and states "Bubble...Now..." Rose nods in agreement and obliges just as the snow comes crashing down.

* * *

With them covered in frost once more Rose lets out a sigh of relief, everyone was safe, and they should be able to make it back without much of an issue. Even if the warp pad was down it wouldn't be that difficult for her to repair it. Sapphire looks at her and smiles before Ruby cracks her knuckles and sets herself back to work melting the ice. Rose then looks at Sapphire and states "I suppose I should apologize for earlier, there was very little reason for us not to have formed Corundum. I was just being difficult."

Sapphire smiles at her, and then glances back over to Ruby before she states calmly "It's fine Rose. I..." She was interupted as Ruby interjected and yelled "We!" Sapphire stops and gives Ruby a stony look before she continues "We understand of course. given the nature of fusion." Rose smiles at her and states calmly "Alright then... I hope that you understand if I make it a rule from now on that I will only fuse in deadly situations. It...Just...Wouldn't be right." She blushes as she thinks back to that night when she had fused with Pearl in front of Greg. She had honestly believed that it had been Pearl trying to assist with his video, and it amazed her that she hadn't realized what her friend had been up to until after it had been done, but the past was in the past they could only move forward.

Sapphire and Ruby both look up to Rose and nod before they state in tandem "Understood." They then get back to their respective tasks, and the bubble continues its path through the snow uninterrupted until they run into a large obstacle nearly two hours later. Sapphire looks at Ruby and states "We've reached the warp..." Rose glances over to Rose and states "When you're ready..." Rose nods and looks down at Sapphire before she states "Let's go home." She then opens a hole in the bubble for Ruby to work her magic.

The red gem cracks her knuckles and steps out into the snow. Water falls over them as the snow melts and then boils away. Sapphire joins her partner, and releases a gust of freezing wind to stop the ice which was melting around them. Once the warp pad was clear they grin at one another and start to dance, then in a flash of light they were gone. Garnet gets up and cracks her back before she states "Ready to go?" Rose lets out a sigh of relief and steps onto the warp before she simply states "Yes, I think I'm done for the day." They then disappear in a flash of light, and the caverns fall into darkness.


	9. Working for Real (Part 5)

**Working for Real (Part 5)**

 **Well lets finish off this set of chapters with a nice finale eh! I hope you all enjoy it.**

By the time they had returned to the temple night had fallen on the beach. Garnet glances at Rose and adjusts her glasses before she states calmly "I'll go get Pearl and Amethyst. Why don't you go and relax." The pink gem smiles tiredly at her friend before she glances out onto the beach. She smiled as she saw light emanating from Greg's van, and she walks out onto the beach to join him. When she finally did reach him she saw him playing on his guitar with skin as red as a lobster. She blinks, 'How did that happen...' before she just shrugs it off and states "Hello Greg." Greg looks up from his guitar and grins at Rose before he states "Evening... How was your day." She moves to his side, and calmly rests her head on his own before she states "It was simply tiring. Yours?" Greg shrugs and states "Same. I learned more about car wax in a day than I thought I ever would, and apparently pickles have a wide variety of health benefits that I was unaware of..." He snickers at that and continues to strum at his guitar.

Rose closes her eyes and listens to his music for several minutes before she lifts her head away from him and glances down at his skin. It had been obvious that he had been burnt, but she hadn't realized how bad it was when she had first looked at him. She glances down at her feet 'He wouldn't have had to take this job if he had gone off to Empire city that night...' She then shakes her head casting her doubts away, but tears welled up in her eyes. She rests her head on his shoulder once more, and they fell onto him. Greg felt a cool sensation run across his body it was almost as if all of his problems were just being washed away. He glances down at his arm and notices that his sunburn was gone. 'What?' He then turns his head and stares at Rose who he could see was crying. He places a hand on her cheek and he states "Hey...What's wrong?" Rose looks up at him and smiles before she states "Oh...Nothing...Just trying to help. It's one of the powers I've been telling you about, my tears have healing properties you see." She blinks as Greg's expression changes to one of worry and he moves his finger up and wipes the tears from her eyes before he states "Look... I don't need your healing tears." He smiles at her "I'm fine, and it hurts me more to see you cry than it does to have a bit of a sunburn. You know?" She blinks again and Greg wraps his arms around her in a hug which she then returns with a stunned look. "Besides...It's my fault for not wearing enough sunscreen. I've learned my ... Rose!" Greg yelps as Rose's grip tightens around him leaving him breathless. She quickly releases him and he catches his breath before he states "I'm fine...It's fine! Everything's fine!" She glances at him for a moment with a worried look before he wraps his arms around her again, and she returns the gesture, but she was a bit more careful not to squeeze him quite as tightly this time around. They spoke for a while about the stars, Rose's mission, Greg's new job, music, Greg played a new record he had picked up from the local store and they just kept on talking while they listened to the song. It was just a pleasant night for the two of them.

* * *

Garnet calmly walked into the burning room and searched for her comrades. This disaster today had been her fault, if only she had been more careful, if only she had not placed her faith in her visions. She knew that she was the one who steered the ship, why had she put so much trust in this one? Was it just her excitement over finally reaching the star? Who knows, all she did know was that because of her they had just added several months worth of work to that particular fiasco and endangered her friends. She carefully hops up into the air and plucks Pearl's gem from the ceiling. She then runs over to the other side of the room and grabs Amethyst's gem. They were both fine, perfectly undamaged, safe. She breathes a sigh of relief. She pops the bubble and sets them down on the floor so that they could rebuild their physical forms when they were good and ready.

* * *

Outside Rose and Greg were relaxing. The record had finally finished playing Greg was strumming on his guitar, while Rose hummed along. Greg grins at her and after a few more minutes of playing he comes up with a few lyrics and just decides to roll with it.

 _"We've seen stars and We've seen lights,_

 _but I've wondered about that night_

 _When we saw one each other,_

 _and you can bet that it leads me just to wonder_

 _how you stayed with me despite my blunders."_

Greg grins at her and continues to strum on the guitar before he asks "You want me to go on, or do you have anything to add?" Rose blinks and grins before she starts to sing.

 _"Well I've seen it all before._

 _I've been a soldier for this world._

 _And I'd hate to be a bore,_

 _but you just strummed the right chords_

 _And I couldn't see myself without you!"_

Greg smirks and states "I suppose that's just the power of the Universe eh?" He flips his hair. Rose bursts out laughing and Greg gets back to playing the guitar.

 _"I guess I was just a spaced out kid_

 _Who decided to try and fly around the earth_

 _but you brought me down_

 _you made me see_

 _that I should try to be the best that I could be!_

 _And with you at my side_

 _I think I stand a decent chance_

 _So come now let's finish this dance_

 _Come now lets end this trance_

 _Come now let's have our romance!"_

Once she finally stops laughing Rose smiles softly at Greg and as his strumming starts to slow down she takes his hand and starts to sing again.

 _"I've seen the Stars_

 _I've seen the worlds_

 _Yet here I am today._

 _I came to find that little could compare_

 _with the things that come into play_

 _with the beauty of the simple things unfurled_

 _and in the air, and the sounds that blare_

She takes a deep breath

 _On your world I made my stand_

 _and now I'm glad I have the chance take your hand_

 _You've shown me your Universe_

 _And while some might say there is little worse_

 _I find myself thinking that it's without compare._

 _Yes I'll take this chance._

 _Yes I'll have your dance._

 _And yes we'll have our romance."_

Greg and Rose both blush at one another before Greg rubs her hand with his fingers and without the guitar playing he sings softly

 _"and now I'm here at your side_

 _I'll be there on your worst of nights._

 _I'll try my best to do my part._

 _You saw me crash like a comet_

 _You picked me up when I fell low._

 _And while it may make Pearl want to vomit.(Rose snickers on this line)_

 _I guess she'll just have to deal with me in tow."_

With their song done the two of them share a kiss. Even though they were both 'working for real' they still found time for one another. Days passed, followed by weeks, and then months, but as usual they found a way to make it work

 **And thus 'Working for Real' comes to an end. I have to say that I'm pretty happy with how this chapter came out (Except the third part, that was just a nightmare) While I'm not sure how it will compare to the rest of the story, I hope you all enjoy this second chapter of 22k in its entirety.(Also please let me know if I'm overusing the whole 'found a way to make it work' line. I'm starting to think that I am, and it would be nice to know if that's true.) And one last thing before I finish this. When it comes to the song, it wasn't an actual song for one of Greg's albums, it was just the two of them goofing off. It was supposed to be schmaltzy!**


End file.
